1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to women's shoes and more particularly to a compact, expandable system for providing women with a desired complete line of footwear implementing interchangeable vamps and bases.
2. Background Information
Today, increasingly high standards for physical appearance in terms of style, clothing and the like have increased the need for a person to dress in a coordinated and stylish fashion. Thus, a person may require a great number of different types of various clothing.
Shoes, particularly women's shoes, have both functional characteristics and design characteristics. Functional characteristics include heel height and shape and the nature of the back of the shoe, i.e. whether open-back, sling-back or closed back. Design characteristics include color, material, and decorative elements such as buckles, piecing, stitching or other ornamental features. Matching both the functional and design characteristics of women's dress, business or fashion leisure shoes with women's dress, business or fashion leisure clothing can be difficult. Some occasions allow for an open toe configuration while others call for closed-toe shoes.
Thus providing a full wardrobe of shoes has proven to be expensive and challenging. The problem is multiplied in the case of travel, where multiple shoes to accommodate the distinct business and social environments expected in even a short trip often presents a relatively large burden during transport, particularly during onboard storage. Thus, traveling light is historically almost not an option for women who wish to have a reasonable range of shoes.
The prior art has made some attempts to increase the versatility of a single shoe through designs that provide for a single shoe base or heel with a series of interchangeable vamps or uppers. However, prior attempts to provide an interchangeable vamp or upper have often produced bulky or complex mechanisms unsuited for women's dress shoes.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,809,449, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an upper attached to the sole with a zipper-like slide fastener, which is generally unsuited for women's dress shoes.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,224, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a shoe with a hollow welt for a detachable upper, where the connecting mechanism is embedded into the welt and sole of the shoe, resulting in a thick sole and protruding welt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,177, which is incorporated herein by reference, a channel inserted within the shoe base that does not make any provision for a closed toe and that requires a thick sole.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,935, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a convertible shoe upper comprised of an insole and vamp unit construction with a hook and loop fastener, a resulting design suitable only for a sandal.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,420, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a limited sandal-type shoe with a slot into which a reversible vamp is inserted.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,834, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a shoe with an interchangeable vamp in which the shoe base has a rim piece on the outer edge of the shoe base that interlocks with a protruding lip on the outer edge of the vamp except in the toe area, where the rim piece and vamp abut one another rather than interlocking, allowing the interchangeable vamp to have a closed toe.
Other prior art provides for certain design elements to be interchangeable, but the disclosed interchangeable device does not comprise the entire vamp or upper section, limiting the design characteristics that can be interchanged. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,795 discloses an interchangeable design element that is attached to the top of the vamp of the shoe. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,583,826 discloses a system of interchangeable panels in a vamp, but the entire vamp is not interchangeable. U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,896 discloses a backless sandal with an arcuate vamp cover snapped to the shoe base. In addition to being suitable only for an open-toe shoe, the snapping mechanism prevents the shoe from having the sleek appearance necessary for women's dress shoes.
It is an object of the present invention to address these deficiencies of the existing prior art and to provide a cost effective, efficient, compact, expandable, shoe wardrobe system.